Thread by @PoliticoRyan

Thread: A global tour of what's working in the fight against #COVID19 #coronavirus.

Democracy is no barrier to success, but failure to invest in fundamentals is. #Germany gets the award for all-round excellence. politico.com/news/2020/03/2…

GERMANY: Best prepared health care system overall - widespread testing not only of symptomatic / old / hospitalized. Close to the best ratios of intensive care beds, doctors and nurses per 100,000 people. Clear and calm leaders. Gatherings of more than 2 banned.

TAIWAN - SCREENING MASTERS: Began checks of international arrivals Dec 31, 2019. Hospitals testing for virus in January, national command center open January 20. Border controls began Feb 6. Temperatures taken as people enter public buildings, helping avoid full lockdown

ICELAND - RANDOM TESTING: 1 in every 20 Icelanders has been tested, and anyone who wants a test can have one. covid.is/data. And the government is conducting random testing to check the true spread of asymptomatic carriers

SOUTH KOREA — NOT JUST TESTING, TRACKING + HOSPITALS TOO. One of the highest ratios of general hospital beds in the world at 12.3 per thousand people. (🇯🇵has slightly more beds but much older popn.) South Korea is tracking and publishing the movements of virus carriers

UK — FINGER PRICK TESTS: Something President Trump has also mentioned. UK-based researchers are in the final stage of testing of an antibody test. Could be 4-6 weeks away from mass distribution.

SINGAPORE — DETAILED TRACING:
Learning from SARS Singapore has detailed contract tracing in place, and practices a radical (+ controversial) form of transparency. TraceTogether app lets you know when you're approaching a person or building carrying virus play.google.com/store/apps/det…

U.S. — INTENSIVE CARE BEDS, REMOTE WORKING:
The U.S. (alongside Germany, and perhaps Turkey) has world-leading ICU bed ratio. It's big companies were both among the first to work from home & the purveyors of the tools (Zoom, Slack et al) helping 100s of millions work from home

CZECH REPUBLIC — COMPULSORY MASKS:
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš addresses the nation wearing a blue mask, and on March 18 his government made masks compulsory when out in public, with mask evaders subject to a $410 fine. That sent Czechs into a DIY sewing overdrive.

DENMARK — WORKER & SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT: Danish govt sealed a deal with employers and unions to pay 90% casual worker wages (max $3,800 per month), and 75% of full-time workers (up to $3,350). Small businesses ordered to close may claim up to 100% expenses (like rent)

ITALY — MORTGAGE DEBT PAUSE: While Italy has the highest total number of deaths in Europe, the Italian government has gotten at least one thing right. A deal with banks to pause big debt payment obligations – in particular mortgages and loans held by small businesses.

CHINA — ONLINE LEARNING: Since February 120 million Chinese students have had access to learning material through live television broadcasts and a national online learning platform. Online learning companies including TAL Education and VIPKID have offered millions of free courses

BELGIUM — EXPERTS BEFORE POLITICIANS: Experts run the country’s daily pandemic briefing, which helps to quash conspiracy theories and misinformation. A decision to keep schools open to the children of health-care workers helping hospitals run at full throttle

AUSTRALIA — SPECIAL SHOPPING HOURS: A now widely copied practice reserves the first hour of supermarket shopping for the elderly, disabled and frontline health workers. The country was also the first to rush out a stimulus package; pity they didn't also rush to close Bondi Beach

LIBERIA — CREATIVE MESSAGING: President George Weah has released a pandemic-themed music single. “Liberia is a country where a majority of the people don’t have access to internet and Facebook, but everyone listens to radio,” said spokesman Solo Kelgbeh theguardian.com/global-develop…

Full guide here: politico.com/news/2020/03/2…
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Not sure why my SOUTH KOREA tweet didn’t publish. They obvs got testing right, but also tracing and hospital bed ratios